THIS MACHINE MOCKS FASCISTS

And Now, Almost Entirely to Shove the Picture of Me at the Hospital Down the Page a Bit, Here’s Me Wearing a Clown Nose

As one does. This photo was taken at the Subterranean Press warehouse last week, while I was signing and personalizing pre-orders of Head On. Why did they have a clown nose? Maybe because they’re a fun-loving lot! Or maybe because they have a basement clown abattoir filled with body parts. Maybe both! Anyway, here you go. I think it doesn’t look half bad on me.

Also thank you to everyone for their kind words and messages, regarding my trip to the hospital on Friday. I’m happy to say I’m feeling generally much improved, which I suspect is down to the Pepto Bismol. Fear not, I’m still scheduling a doctor’s appointment for this week. Better safe than sorry. I also kept my weekend pretty basic and restful. The most strenuous thing I did was mock some dimwits on Twitter, which honestly wasn’t strenuous at all. I won’t go into detail about the mocking here (check my Twitter timeline for it, if you’re curious, it won’t be hard to find), except to say that the last couple of days left me with the firm belief that the concept of free speech, both as a constitutional right and a general ideal, sadly continues to be out of the grasp of many of those who choose to bleat about it online. And that’s a shame.

My weekend was fairly decent. Went to Dayton for a small gaming convention. Got to play a little, met with some friends I haven’t seen in a while, and generally kicked back for a relaxing Saturday doing things that my wife isn’t interested in doing. She stayed home, visited with some friends, and watched a couple of movies she likes but bore me to death. A good weekend for both of us.
I hope the doctors figure out what your “problem” was and that it isn’t anything major.

Went to see the doctor on Friday & he said I *don’t have cancer, so on the whole my weekend’s been pretty damned good. Not quite wrestling Scarlett Johansson & Jessica Alba in strawberry Jello good, but pretty damned close. =D

I do like the photo on this post much better than the prior one, I must say. Very glad that you are continuing to feel better – please keep that up!

My weekend has been a good one, thanks for asking. The elder kid came over yesterday with all her files and notes, and together we white-boarded out a detailed timeline of the three days leading up to her nuptials later this month, which we then converted to spreadsheet form (not quite a Gannt chart but close), so she is feeling slightly calmer at this point. Watching a professional project manager coordinate her wedding is an interesting and instructional experience.

Today was devoted to laundry, housecleaning and reading a book, all of which were very necessary. I am confident now that the health department will NOT, in fact, condemn my house, so I’ve got that going for me.

Best of luck at the follow-up medical stuff this week, sir, and thank you for taking care of yourself.

Really glad you’re feeling better. Had an awesome weekend with my GF, who has been away for two weeks assisting her daughter with some medical stuff. What is it with these freakin’ bodies of ours?! If only there was a way to make them better…and green. Hmm.

Glad you are feeling better and yes make that appointment with your Doctor. I had an okay weekend . I had to go to a bridal shower ( hate going to those things) but since it was for my future sister in law I couldn’t get out of it . When I got home I went to my happy place – the library. I got a book I had reserved “Educated” by Tara Westover and I bought a book “House of Sand and Fog” by Andrew Dubus III.

Good to know you’re doing better. I had an awesome Saturday, attending an SCA event in MA. Two friends were crowned King and Queen (this is the third time they’ve done this, so they know what the’re getting into). I got to see lots of old friends and spent lunch chatting with newer friends. Great day all around. Sunday was spent recovering and starting a new embroidery project.

My weekend involved large amounts of washing dishes, having discovered that the dishwasher was dispatching water where water should not go, and endeavouring to clean up said water from the places water is not supposed to go.

It sucked, but not as much as yours did. However, I’m glad to see that your pipes are working better than the ones in my kitchen…

Oh, I had a great weekend. Thanks for asking.
Saturday I watched the installation of two packages of honey bees. The day was in the mid forties, which is a bit cool for bees, so fewer bees flying around than usual with a package installation. This made it less stressful for the non-beekeepers, while still providing sufficient bees for those of us who love to have bees surrounding us.
Sunday I watched maybe seven hours of Doctor Who, both classic and modern, with a cousin. Junk food was involved. I suspect my Doctor interaction was lots more fun than yours.

People diss on clowns. But I think clowns are a great use for the undead.

Basically it was a movie weekend for me.

Saw “shape of water”. I thought its “anything normal is evil, anything else is good” had all the finesse and subtlety of a baseball bat.

Also, why didn’t they drive straight to the ocean with the van? It wasn’t a three act play style plot, which is fine, if the plot you do go with isn’t driven by characters making dumb decisions to get outcome you want. And an ending that made little sense.

Also watched “About Time” (2013) which was cute. Oh and “Lilo and Stitch” which I hadn’t seen in ages.

That nose looks an awful lot like the one I bought for my son last week as part of the Red Nose charity drive that now happens annually at this time. Proceeds go to combat child poverty. So an alternative answer to “why do they have a red clown nose?” is “because they gave some money to help end, or at least mitigate poverty. Put “red nose day” into your Googles to find out more.

Great that you are so improved, and hoping the follow-up goes well. In Australia, Red Nose Day is the fundraiser for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Some folks attach a nose to the front grille of their car as an alternative to wearing one on their face. ^_^

I had what amounted to a mild heart attack (myocarditis, they think) about 4 years ago. About 2 years ago I started having chest pains again. They checked my heart and said I was fine. After continuing to have loads of symptoms and issues while the doc essentially told me it was all in my mind, I finally got a referral to a gastroenterologist. I’ve been on daily acid controllers for a year and feel great. Apparently, some of us get chest pains instead of heart burn. Glad to hear you’re okay.

Helped out at the South Bay Transgender Day of Visibility event on Saturday (my friend Lance has been organizing it for several years and I’m happy to help him put it together; the International TDOV was officially March 31st but the South Bay event was pushed out a week). That included directing and hosting an evening variety show (burlesque, drag, a magician…) at a local watering hole. (And surprising a new chunk of the audience who are used to lip-sync shows and have no idea I can belt out a tune until they witness it themselves.)

Then got into my Boy Wonder (’66) costume Sunday to visit Silicon Valley Comic-Con and pose for pics with my friends who have done the matching Batman (Adam West version) and Catwoman (Earth Kitt version). We even had the giant “bomb” from the TV Batman film, and foam mini-batarangs to give to kids who wanted to pose with us.
(Along the way we did quiet promotion of Worldcon 76; everybody who got a shot of us got a bookmark with the basic info on it.)

I went through the chest pain bit, although mine focused on problems swallowing as well as chest pain. What I’ve learned that might be of use:
–Omeprazole works better than Pepto bismol, but don’t use it too much.
–There’s a condition that chiropractors call “computer neck” and others call turkey neck, and it’s that bit where your torso silhouette looks a bit like a cashew from you bending over the computer all day. It’s one reason so many chiropractors make a decent living.
–When you have cashew-like posture and your poor weak neck muscles holding up all that bone in (my? your? skull), things get stressed. That stress tightens up chest muscles, kinks your diaphragm, and leads to things like chest pain and acid indigestion.
–If you’ve got a case of turkey neck and cashew torso, the long-term solution appears to be working with a chiropractor about good posture and doing some neck, shoulder, and chest exercises to get your muscles loosened up and lengthened (shoulder rolls really help). The doctors are good about prescribing omeprazole (because it can be cheaper with a copay than OTC) and eliminating more dangerous conditions, but they don’t really cure underlying bad posture, if that’s the primary issue.
–I’ve worked up to an hour of meditation every morning, working on things like posture, proper breathing, and anxiety dissipation This seems to help my posture.
–Oh, and too much coffee/tea/cola/whatever can tighten muscles in different ways. You might want to play with your stimulant intake to find the happy medium of alertness without turning yourself into a spasmodic cashew with a turkey neck.

If this isn’t your problem, all this advice is useless. Still, my chiropractor sees a lot of people with computer neck. While she likes the income, she wishes we’d all get a clue and stop hurting ourselves. That seems to be a general complaint in our society for some reason.

My weekend…oh took up another craft art class because I just really needed another reason to buy art supplies ;) and became infected with Needle felting mania…stab stab stab. Very therapeutic. Dug out and moved a chardanay grape vine. Helped my husband with his electric bike project ( my smaller hands can squeeze into tiny spaces where bits need tightened). Walked the wonder dog, Watson, in the Rose Garden park, though this is more run like crazy for a bit, stop behind a tree, roll around in the grass …the dog not me though it is tempting in summer…and stand around and watch the parade of humanity and dogdom in the freezing wind.

And, aas we are health promo sharing a bit, read the prep for my colonoscopy next month. I call it my colonoscopation. No dinner to cook, no chores. Everyone is very sympathetic and nice to you for several days.
It’s like a staycation. It is all about me time. For those not yet on the ten year plan, a colon screening every ten years, have no fear. Go to a good clinic and it is a bit like a spa visit. Heated blankies, warm socks and drugs.

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